NEW DELHI: What started as a row over Union home minister Amit Shah’s remark on Dr. BR Ambedkar, took an ugly turn on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress embroiled into protest vs counterprotest, scuffle and FIR vs FIR by the two parties.
Parliament premises witnessed chaos as the BJP-led NDA and the Congress-led INDIA bloc staged simultaneous protests, accusing each other of disrespecting BR. Ambedkar. The controversy began after the Congress alleged that Union home minister Amit Shah had insulted Ambedkar during his speech in the Rajya Sabha.
Congress was leading the attack with a clip from Amit Shah’s Rajya Sabha speech, in which on Tuesday he had said, “Abhi ek fashion ho gaya hai – Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. Itna naam agar bhagwan ka lete to saat janmon tak swarg mil jata (It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar’. If they had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven).”
The chaos in Parliament
As the two political fronts held simultaneous protests, a scuffle broke out outside the Parliament complex. The BJP cornered the Congress after its two MPs Pratap Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput were injured and admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for head injuries.
Pratap Sarangi (69) from Odisha and Mukesh Rajput from Uttar Pradesh were brought to the hospital from Parliament with head injuries, the hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Ajay Shukla said.
“Sarangi was bleeding profusely. He had a deep cut on his forehead and it had to be stitched. His blood pressure and anxiety level were high when he was brought in,” the doctor said.
“Rajput also had a head injury immediately after which he lost consciousness. However, the MP was in his senses when he was brought to the hospital. His blood pressure levels had also shot up,” Dr Shukla said.
The medical superintendent of the RML Hospital said both the MPs were administered medicines to manage their blood pressure, pain and anxiety.
The BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of pushing the senior member after which its MPs were injured.
Rahul says was pushed by BJP MPs, Kharge injured
A video showed BJP’s Nishikant Dubey accusing Rahul of resorting to rowdy behaviour (‘gundagardi’).
“He pushed me,” Gandhi countered Dubey, walking off after having a cursory look at Sarangi, who was being attended to by fellow BJP members.
“I was trying to enter Parliament and the BJP MPs were stopping me, pushing me and threatening me,” Gandhi told reporters in Parliament premises.
Meanwhile, Congress said BJP MPs had sticks in their hands and leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge was threatened and pushed.
Kharge also wrote to Birla, claiming he was physically pushed by BJP MPs in Parliament premises following which he lost his balance.
“I was physically pushed by BJP MPs; lost my balance and was forced to sit down on ground in front of Makar Dwar… This inflicted injuries on my knees which have already undergone surgery,” Kharge said.
Kharge asked the speaker to order an inquiry into the BJP MPs “pushing” him, and said it was an assault not just on him but on the Rajya Sabha LoP and the Congress president.
In their letter to Birla, some senior Congress MPs said they were writing to express their “deep anguish” over the incident that happened when members of the INDIA bloc were peacefully protesting and marching from the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar statue to Makar Dwar.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also dismissed the allegations against bother Rahul by terming it a conspiracy by BJP to protect Amit Shah.
“Rahul (Gandhi) was peacefully going inside the Parliament while holding BR Ambedkar’s photograph and chanting the ‘Jai Bhim’ slogan. Who stopped him from going to the Parliament? We have been protesting for so many days and there is always space left for those who are going inside and outside,” the Wayanad MP said.
“Today, they protested for the first time and stopped everyone while resorting to pushing, shoving and hooliganism. This is a conspiracy hatched to save Amit Shah’s skin. They pushed Kharge as he fell on the floor before my eyes. After that, a CPI (M) MP was also pushed around and he fell on Kharge. We could see that he has been injured,” Vadra said.
‘He stood so close, felt uncomfortable’: Woman BJP MP on Rahul
Meanwhile, a BJP MP from Nagaland, Phangnon Konyak, filed a complaint with Rajya Sabha Chairman against Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of misbehaving with her by standing too close and causing discomfort.
“I was standing just below the staircase of Makar Dwaar with a placard in my hand. The Security Personnel had cordoned and created a passage to the entrance right for the moment of Hon’ble MP’s of other parties. Suddenly, the Leader of the Opposition, Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji along-with other party members came in front of me despite there being a passage created for them,” her letter stated.
“He misbehaved with me in a loud voice and his physical proximity to me was so close that I, being a lady member, felt extremely uncomfortable,” the MP said.
Congress terms it ‘diversion tactics’; BJP calls out Rahul’s ‘arrogance’
As the row over the scuffle intensified, Congress and BJP delegations reached police station to file FIR and counter FIR.
A delegation of Congress MPs including women MPs reached the Parliament Street Police station to complain against the BJP.
On the other side, three NDA MPs, including Anurag Thakur and Bansuri Swaraj, reached the same police station to file a complaint against Rahul Gandhi.
“We have filed a complaint with Delhi Police against Rahul Gandhi for assault and incitement. We have mentioned in detail the incident that happened today outside Makar Dwar, where NDA MPs were protesting peacefully… We have given a complaint under Sections 109, 115, 117, 125, 131 and 351. Section 109 is attempt to murder, Section 117 is voluntary causing grievous hurt,” BJP MP Anurag Thakur said after meeting police officials.
Delhi Police later registered an FIR against Rahul Gandhi.
Later in the day the two parties also held press conferences in which the Congress accused the BJP of orchestrating the scuffle to divert from Adani row and Amit Shah’s anti-Ambedkar remark.
“A few days before the Parliament session, the Adani case came up in America and the BJP tried to stop the discussion on it. The basic strategy of the BJP was that there should be no discussion on the Adani case, it should be suppressed… After that Amit Shah’s statement came and we have been saying from the beginning that the thinking of the BJP and the RSS is anti-Constitution, anti-Ambedkar,” Rahul Gandhi said during a press brief on Thursday.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed that Rahul indulged in “goondaism” and “purposely and in planned way scuffled with BJP MPs and resorted to violence”. “Congress and other MPs have been staging protests at Makar Dwar almost daily and we also enter Parliament without disturbing them. However, Rahul Gandhi purposely and in a planned way scuffled with BJP MPs and resorted to violence,” Shivraj Chouhan said. The BJP, in its press conference also said Rahul Gandhi’s “behaviour was unimaginable in a civilised society” and that he was “not fit to hold the leader of opposition post in Lok Sabha”.
